Abstract [en]

Railway stations are perceived as public spaces and are regulated by national transport goals of equality and accessibility for all (Prop. 2008/09:93). However, hardly any research has looked at how gender affects commuters in their daily life at railway stations. The overriding aim of this study is to examine how male and female commuters use and experience railway stations as gendered physical places and social spaces, during their daily travels. The empirical material is based on travel diaries, interviews with male and female commuters, participant observations inspired by auto-ethnography and interviews with planners and managers of the railway stations. Stations included in the study are Kimstad commuter rail station, Norrköping railway station and Stockholm Central station (all in Sweden). In this thesis this combination of theories makes it possible to define gender as rhythm. Through this theoretical frame the thesis analyses gendered power relations of bodies in time, space and mobility. Results from the study show that individuals are affected by gendered power relations that dwell in collective believes and in shape of materialized objects that encounter the commuter when visiting the railway station. In conclusion the study shows that both female and male commuters are affected by gender power relations while visiting railway stations. Even though they affect all, women seem to be most negatively affected by these power relations, since women by gender as rhythms are considered as either objects of decency or as sexually available to heterosexual men. Further, female bodies negotiate the risk of encountering sexual violence therefore gender as rythm tend to decrease the extent of women’s everyday living spaces, regardless of age and place.